About the artist: Steve Hackett (1950) is an English musician, songwriter, singer, and producer who gained prominence as the lead guitarist of the progressive rock band Genesis from 1971 to 1977. His solo career from that year onward yielded dozens of studio albums, but very few highlights. For me his best solo work is the albums in which he revisits Genesis songs with a range of guest vocalists. Steve Hackett currently has two songs in my list of about 200 best pop/rock songs of all time.
About the song: I am reluctant to include cover versions of songs where the original is already in the list, but this is one of the few exceptions. Hackett recorded new versions of several Genesis anthems with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra on his 1996 album Watcher of the Skies - Genesis Revisited. It sounds like a recipe for disaster, but actually some of the remakes sound quite good, and his take on Firth of Fifth is brilliant. The first notes are already breathtaking, with a quiet glockenspiel (I think this is the instrument used - could also be a xylophone) setting the scene. The singing by prog rock veteran John Wetton (ex King Crimson, UK, Asia) is as good as it gets if Peter Gabriel is not around. The instrumental break brings the biggest and most intriguing changes. No flute solo, no piano solo, instead Steve comes in with a fantastic acoustic guitar solo – followed by a recreation of his original electric guitar solo. The original version is still even better, but this cover is so good that I decided I had to include it. Run time 9:39.
